Freemium with an emphasis on the -mium —

Evernote limits free tier to two devices, raises prices 40%

The popular note taking service puts the brakes on freeloaders.

Evernote has been one of the leading note-taking services for some time, with clients for the Web and every major OS. The company recently announced sweeping changes to its "freemium" pricing strategy, which puts a big limit on the "free" tier and raises prices across the board for new and existing users.

The free tier, "Evernote Basic," is now limited to two devices. If you want to access your notes on more than two devices, you'll need to fork over some cash. "Devices" means any device with an official client installed (Evernote apps are available on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, BlackBerry OS, and Windows Phone). Using Evernote on the Web does not count as an actual "device," nor do third-party apps that use the Evernote API. Managing device access now works a lot like some music services, where every installed client counts as "a device," and you can log in to a settings page and "revoke access" from each instance.

Both paid tiers are getting 40 percent price increases, too. "Evernote Plus," which is now needed by anyone with more than two devices, has seen the price jump from $24.99 per year to $34.99 per year (or $3.99 per month). Evernote Plus limits you to 1GB of uploads per month (the free tier is limited to 60MB). The "Premium" tier moved from $49.99 to $69.99. Premium raises uploaded data per month to 10GB and adds a ton of other features. New users will see the price increase right away, while existing users renewing a subscription will see the new pricing in August.

If you're looking for a free alternative to Evernote, the closest thing out there is Microsoft's OneNote. OneNote works on the Web and every other popular platform (Android, iOS, Mac OS, and of course Windows) and even has a (Windows-only) Evernote-to-OneNote import tool. There's also Google Keep, but it works more like a collection of simple sticky notes than a fully featured notebook app.

Ron Amadeo
Ron is the Reviews Editor at Ars Technica, where he specializes in Android OS and Google products. He is always on the hunt for a new gadget and loves to rip things apart to see how they work. Emailron@arstechnica.com//Twitter@RonAmadeo